Jennifer Egan

Rock lit is on the rise. Soon after Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids won the 2010 National Book Award, Brooklyn-based Jennifer Egan was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for her tremendous fourth novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad. Goon Squad effectively Proust-icizes the rock memoir genre by spinning out tales of a variegated cast of characters, from Bennie, the former '80s punk leader of fictitious The Flaming Dildos turned millionaire New York record exec, to Lou, a rock star father attempting to impress his estranged kids with an African safari, and Dolly, a failed publicist reduced to working on a Hollywood-style image overhaul for a South American dictator. By the end of the book, Egan, a finessed and wildly creative writer, ties up all of these characters through bonds of love, blood, and rock 'n' roll. (Presented by Seattle Arts & Lectures.) ERIN K. THOMPSON